- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of Que Pasa, NJ, with Carlos Medina has been provided by: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative 825, ROI-NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health, Peapack-Gladstone Bank.

- Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this month's episode of Que Pasa.

We're lucky this month to have actor, David Zayas, professional boxer, Jenna Gaglioti, Middlesex County Surrogate, Claribel Cortes, and the creator of La Borinquena comic, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez.

And don't forget to ask yourself, que pasa?

(salsa music) And up first we have actor David Zayas.

Welcome to Que Pasa, David.

- Thank you for having me.

- From the Bronx, family from Ponce, Puerto Rico.

- That's right.

Yeah, I was in the Bronx, raised in the Bronx.

My parents are from, my father's from Ponce, my mother's from Arecibo.

- Now at a very young age, you went to serve the country in the military.

At age 19, I believe.

- I was going to Iona College at the time.

And I just, I needed, I just needed a change.

And told my dad, at the time, that.

He gave me the check for the next tuition.

And I said, "You know what, Dad, I think I'm gonna join the Air Force."

Immediately it was snatched back.

(Carlos laughing) And I spent a great four, four and a half years in Air Force.

And I came out and became a cop, a New York City cop.

- Well, thank you for your service.

- Thank you.

- How many years in the police force?

- 15.

My dad was a sanitation man in New York City.

So city jobs were, it was the biggest picture in front of me when I was growing up.

Though I've always wanted to be an actor.

But you grow up in an environment where it's, you don't have too many availability to art.

Whether it's theater.

I used to go to movies all the time, but I never went to the theater.

And I love music, but I wasn't musically inclined.

So the arts were not readily available where I grew up in the Bronx.

- Sure, and what made you get into acting?

At what point in your life?

- Well, I came into it late.

I was about 28.

And one day I went see a Broadway show.

And I was in the front row, and I was like, "I think I wanna try and do this."

So the next day I enrolled in an acting school and loved it.

And somehow got involved with the right people, the good energy, positive artists, actors.

Joined this theater company right away, Labyrinth Theater Company.

And then I met some of the most talented people, and you have to catch up and try to be as good as them.

And so I worked hard.

- What would you say was your first big break?

What was the moment that you felt, this is the audition I landed?

- I always based my success on how I feel as an artist.

So I felt like I really was involved in a world that I wanted to be in.

Not thinking about the money, not thinking about the fame, which is the last thing that you really, for me, I do this for, the last thing is for fame.

I just want to be involved, be pertinent, be relevant in the art that I love doing, the expression that I love performing in.

And working, the camaraderie of working with other actors and the camaraderie of writers and directors.

That camaraderie is a real, it really makes it all worthwhile.

- And then a role came, came around using some of your life experience.

Batista, for a little show called Dexter.

Tell me about that experience.

- That was an interesting experience because I had done, prior to that, I was on the show for HBO called Oz.

So when Dexter came about, I realized that it doesn't really matter that I was a cop because cops in different cities, they have different laws, they have different ways of working.

So I had to learn how a Miami Metro detective works.

So I did a little bit of research and made sure I tried to keep it, the character was Cuban.

So I tried to be as authentic as, you never really quite get it, but as authentic as I possibly can.

But I realized this character had a really, Angel Batista, had a really big heart in the show.

- Tell me a little bit about your opinion of the state of Broadway theater and movies.

Are we making advancement, Hispanic characters, in a positive light and the numbers relative to our population?

New York, New Jersey, we're 25% Hispanic.

Are we seeing roles in those numbers?

- I think the roles are getting, the representation of it, is getting better.

I don't think it's it's anywhere near what it should be in proportion to the Latinos in the tri-state area, let's say.

But the roles that are available, at least from just being aware of it, are getting better.

So it is getting better, but is getting better slowly.

And I think the most important thing is to try to tell stories about how we grew up and about our background, and about our heritage.

So I think it's important to have writers, and directors, and producers, that are willing to tell those stories.

- If I had to ask for a favorite character, or role that you played, could you pick one?

- I think it has to go towards Angel Batista.

Because that gave me the opportunity to actually develop a character and actually watch it grow, not only on as the shows went on, but also as the understanding of the scripts, for me, came, I could relate it to the character choices that I made when I played him from the beginning, Angel Batista.

So I would say that is the most rewarding role I've had, to date.

Hey, and if you get one of those in a lifetime it's pretty good.

- Yeah, definitely.

- And so I've, I had, that was a great opportunity for me.

And Dexter too, how did you enjoy working?

You never thought that would be a, did you ever think that you would have a, Batista would be back?

- Spoiler alert, right?

(Carlos laughing) I didn't know when I, I wasn't aware at first.

They started shooting and I said, "Okay, they're doing their own thing."

And then I got a call to come in and just make my presence a couple of times in the show.

And I jumped on it.

I loved it, it was great.

And it was fun to go back.

It's like riding a bike.

It was really good to get into that character, again.

And it was a lot of fun.

And the show was, Dexter and Dexter New Blood was fantastic.

It was great stories.

- What advice would you have for viewers that are considering a career?

It's a grueling career, acting.

What words of advice or enthusiasm will you give to our viewers.

- Follow your dream.

Once you start working on it, 'cause it just doesn't come.

Once you start working on it, you're gonna realize, is this something I can sacrifice and do the work, and go through all the journeys that needs to be traveled to get to where you want to get.

And even with that, success is not guaranteed.

But I don't look at it as, as success.

I look at it as I have an opportunity to play this character and that's what I love doing.

And I think it's something that you gotta love to do.

You gotta love to do it.

It's gotta be in your soul.

And then if you, once you discover that, then so many avenues open up to just express what you wanna do.

- Well, thank you, David.

- Thanks for your words of wisdom and thanks for joining Que Pasa.

- Thank you so much.

I loved being here.

- And up next, professional boxer, Jenna Gaglioti.

(salsa music) Welcome back.

And up next, we have boxer, Jenna Gaglioti.

Welcome to Que Pasa.

- Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

- Tell me a little bit about your story.

You were born in New York.

- So I'm born and raised in New York.

I ended up going to St. Peter's University.

I graduated from there.

And that's when I stayed in Jersey City.

And from there I began training with Coach Louis Gonzalez, also known as Mosquito.

And that's where I started my pro career of boxing.

- So when I was reading your bio, it talked about being a young child and playing with friends and family.

And that's when you kind of realized, I guess, you were- - Into boxing?

- A little stronger than some of the kids?

- Yeah, I grew up, I'm the youngest.

I have an older brother who's 10 years older than me, and an older sister who's two and a half years older than me.

So my brother taught me to defend myself and make sure I would always be okay if he wasn't around because (chuckles) protective older brother.

- And your family, you're Boriqua, from Puerto Rico, and Italian.

- Yes, correct.

Yeah, yeah.

- Excellent.

Excellent.

What part of Puerto Rico is your family from?

- My family's from Barranquitas and San Juan.

- And you may be fighting there later in the year, you believe?

There's a possibility?

- Hopefully, Hopefully.

- We're working on it.

They just reopened boxing in Puerto Rico.

So we're working on getting a fight out there.

- And tell me, what's your ranking in the United States and worldwide?

I believe you have a ranking for each.

- Yeah, in the United States, I'm ranked three, currently.

And worldwide, I'm ranked seventh.

- Middle weight division?

- Yeah, middle weight.

- Tell me about some of your training that you have to do.

I know it's a tough regimen.

- Yeah, about four to five days a week I'm running.

Between long runs and sprints.

I work about two hours with my coach, five to six days a week.

Heavy bag work, sparring, all, everything like that.

And then I also have strength and conditioning.

And then rehab plays a big part in it, 'cause I'm a little bit older.

So I wanna make sure that my body continues.

So pool work.

I'm constantly going to massage therapy, stuff like that.

- Tell me what you tell younger athletes, especially Latinas, that have aspirations to get into boxing or other sports.

What has your journey been like, and what words of advice can you offer to them?

- So I actually work with the youth a lot.

I work for, I help Recreation in Jersey City.

And a lot of the, especially young girls, are always like asking me different questions.

And I always tell them that if this is something that they want to do, then keep their mind to it and just continue.

Whether it's boxing, whether it's going to college, whatever they wanna do, as long as they wanna do it, just continue on the straight path to the direction you wanna go.

- Have you faced any stigma, or criticism, for being in boxing, which, traditionally, women haven't been in?

- Oh, all the time.

I also started older.

So when I first started, everyone was like, "You're not gonna get far."

I hear a lot of not fun things to hear, sometimes.

And then there are the people who are very supportive and are always like, "This is amazing that you're doing it.

Thank you for breaking barriers."

I'm actually the only female professional fighter in Jersey City.

So I'm trying to break more barriers for the young girls so that they don't feel like this is one road for them, that they could go on any road that they wanna be on.

- Sure, one common theme that I've had, and many people are from New Jersey and New York that've been on the show, is that this area, and particular Jersey City, New Jersey gives you a certain toughness, a certain grit.

Has been the word that's used often.

Do you feel that your upbringing in Jersey has given you a little bit of that toughness?

- Oh, a hundred percent.

New York and New Jersey.

If you don't have the grit, you're not gonna last too long.

Being brought up in this area has helped with, if you feel like sometimes your mind might say something, but your heart is what's gonna take you far.

- Thank you for being on the show.

And can you give us some of your social media handles?

We'll put 'em on the screen also.

- Yeah, so my Instagram is @ _JennaG, J-E-N-N-A-G. And that's all I use, right now.

- Excellent.

Okay.

- Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

- And good luck on your next fight.

- Thank you for having me.

- And up next, Middlesex County Surrogate Claribel Cortes.

(salsa music) Welcome back.

Up next, we have Middlesex County Surrogate, Claribel Cortes.

Welcome to Que Pasa.

- Thank you for having me.

- You have many, many fires in the iron, so to speak.

Vice Chair of the statewide Hispanic Chamber, County Surrogate.

How do you juggle all of your positions?

- That's a great question.

Definitely time management is one of them.

But they all have one thing in common.

I love to help the community.

So as long as I'm helping the community, just time just happens.

- I know you're Vice Chair of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber.

And I know there's a lot of entrepreneurship in your family.

Tell me a little bit about the roots of entrepreneurship in the Cortes family.

- Yes, definitely.

I come from a daughter of a small business owner.

My dad owned bodegas throughout New York city.

He definitely was the person that would go into the neighborhood, take the most rundown bodega, turn it around, and basically make it better for the neighborhood.

And then, obviously, sell it and move on.

But something was triggered in me when I was around nine or 10 years old.

My dad did not have the proper insurance, unfortunately, back then and his grocery store, well, unfortunately suffered a fire loss.

And that triggered something in me to be able to help other business owners in the future.

But he recovered from it, like a true entrepreneur.

Resiliency was in his blood.

And since then he actually opened up five more businesses.

- Amazing.

Tell me about your early career.

Associated Press, ABC, and Fox.

Very impressive.

- I ended up at Fox News.

That was my first start.

I ended up there, literally, by accident I have to say.

My father, unfortunately, could not pay for college at that time.

So I had to get a job.

And someone told me, "There's this new station opening up.

It's called Fox News.

And they're looking for a receptionist."

I think I was 18 at the time.

I said, "I'm gonna go for it."

I got the job.

Six months later, they literally said, "We want you in the newsroom."

And then I started to do some production there, and I learned on the job.

And that's how I got started, and then moved on to the ABC, and the Associated Press.

- Tell me about your current position as Middlesex County Surrogate, the first woman, and obviously first Latina, to hold that position.

- Yes, I'm the first, but I'm not the last, that's one thing I definitely wanna put out there.

I definitely wanna leave the door open for other women to walk through those doors, and other doors.

So that's definitely an objective of mine.

I would say the position, many people don't know what the Surrogate is.

We are the Surrogate of the Court for Middlesex County or for whatever county you reside in.

We have 21 of them.

I'm one of 21 Surrogates in the state of New Jersey.

And we serve as the advocate for the community.

So we help them when someone has passed away and they have to probate a will, when someone has to adopt a child, that's where we step in as well.

And also we help them when someone is incapacitated and they can no longer take care of themselves.

So we give them guardianships over their family members.

All important work, transitions of life.

And we do it with compassion.

- I'd like to focus a little bit on that giving back, and, as you said, you do things that reflect the ability to help the community.

Where do you feel you got that?

Was some of that even going to the farm and coming to New Jersey and New York.

- Definitely.

I'ma try to say this without getting emotional.

It definitely comes from my upbringing.

My grandfather, both of them, from both sides, everything they did, they did it with compassion.

They did it because they wanted to help the community.

My grandfather was a farmer from one side, my mom's father.

And my other grandfather from my dad's side was a bodeguerro.

He had a bodega in Dominican Republic.

And they always helped the community.

So if you didn't have money, they will give you what you needed.

And I remember seeing that growing up.

And while they had a business to run, community was number one.

And that's where it came from.

And my grandfather always said, "Leave this world better than you found it."

So that's embedded in what I do.

- That's beautiful.

What advice would you give to some of our Latina viewers about their career, about if they want to get into entrepreneurship, or they want to go to college, and they're unsure, they're facing a lot of struggles.

Give them some words of advice, some words of wisdom.

- Oh, I have a lot of advice, but I will give them one, or more than one, I would say.

Seek a mentor.

Success leaves clues.

Definitely try to find someone that could help you.

I did not have that because I was usually the first woman in the room where I was at or the first Latina.

But I would say that times have changed for the better.

So definitely look for someone that could mentor you.

And the last thing I will leave them with is be true to who you are.

You should have your internal compass facing in the right direction.

So no matter what you're doing, whether you're volunteering, you're running for office, or you're opening up your own business, you should know who you are and stay true to that.

- Thank you, Claribel.

Keep inspiring and thank you for joining Que Pasa.

- Thank you.

Thank you so much.

- And up next, we have Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, comic book author and creator.

(salsa music) Welcome back.

Now we have artist and creator, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez.

Welcome to Que Pasa.

- What's going on, man?

Come on, man, we're friends.

We've known each other for a while.

- Nice to have you in person, not on that little box like last time.

(both laughing) - It's great to be here, not only because you're have a fantastic show, but because you're a fellow comic book head, like me.

We got our nicknames.

I know you're Wolverine.

You know I'm Spidey.

So this is great to have this opportunity to share a conversation.

- Yeah.

And you're a Jersey boy.

- Yes.

- Born in, what town were you born?

- Born in New Brunswick.

It's all Rutgers hospitals now, but back in the day there used to be Middlesex Hospital.

And I still have family out here.

My wife grew up in Scotch Plains, and her brother just recently had moved to Flemington.

So we frequently New Jersey.

It's funny 'cause New Jersey just feels like it's just part of New York city.

It's like the sixth borough.

So it's constantly over here.

But yeah, a lot of roots here, a lot of culture here, a lot of connections, and a lot of pride.

A lot of pride.

- So tell me the journey to publishing your own comic.

That's not a minor feat in today's industry.

- It started out as this wild idea of using comics to reach a mainstream audience, to talk about issues related to Puerto Rico.

Because, at the time in 2015, through 2016, Puerto Rico was going through a major economic crisis that outside of financial media news outlets, no one was talking about.

And this led to the closure of 500 public schools.

This led to the migration, for the first time in the history of Puerto Rico, of white collar workers, many scientists, many chemists, many professionals, were leaving Puerto Rico because the pharmaceutical industry were closing all of their laboratories and all their facilities.

And this was leading to a major economic crisis.

And being the lover and fan of superhero storytelling and seeing how superheroes have pretty much taken over the popular cultural landscape.

I thought to myself, well, let me enter this space as a storyteller, from my own perspective, with my own skillset.

It gave me the confidence and the experience to say, I think I can do this as well And here we are, six years later, we've published five books.

Our most recent project we launched this year with the support of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

And Rosario Dawson appears as herself in this book.

So our books celebrate our Puerto Rican heritage.

We bring forward a protagonist that's Afro Latina, which is oftentimes so underrepresented by our own people.

We could point fingers, but we do it to ourselves, as well.

But also a property that is engaging, in a beautiful way, a new generation, which I never expected to.

Everything from seeing our character on the wrappers of Chocolate Cortes, to a new line of action figures that'll be released in the spring of next year.

We've come a long way.

But it's also rewarding to know that there's a philanthropic component, and we're able to give back by offering microgrants or nonprofits throughout the island of Puerto Rico.

So it's exciting.

It's a journey, man.

It's been- - Good stuff.

And I was able to meet Rosario at your popup event in Manhattan.

- That's already four years ago, I believe.

- Been four years ago.

I know this kind of pandemic blurry bubble that we went through.

- Tell me a little bit about the relationship with Chocolate Cortes.

- Yeah, so Chocolate Cortes is this amazing company that's been around for 93 years.

They have this beautiful model where they call it from the farm, to the stand, to the bar.

Because there's, and that's this whole artisanal kind of trend that you see with so many products, nowadays.

But they've been doing this for 93 years.

They established themselves with farms in the Dominican Republic.

And in the last 10, 15 years, they brought these farms down to Puerto Rico.

And this Puerto Rican family has been doing this for close to a century.

And in the last decade they started their own nonprofit, Fundacion Cortes, which provides programs for children in the areas of the arts, culture, and history, and especially during post hurricane Maria, while the island was recovering.

So we partnered up with them because they have never done a co-branded bar with a superhero character on it.

And also, for lack of a better way of looking at it, there has never been a Latina superhero to be on this wrapper.

So we teamed up with them, with the idea that the bars, the merchandise that we created, would further support our collaborative philanthropic work through their work in Fundacion Cortes, through our work with our grants program.

And it's beautiful.

It's really beautiful to see the response that the chocolate bars have had nationally.

- You talk about that younger generation.

Tell me, what's your message to them, young artists, aspiring entrepreneurs?

You've done both.

It's art and entrepreneurship, sometimes, don't gel very well.

- They don't.

They don't.

- You've done it very well, but I think your words would be appreciated, for those that have the aspiration.

- My message to children, and to young people, is to listen to your voice, listen to the story that you have to tell.

Particularly as LatinX here in the us, we have, for generations, been kind of conditioned to believe that our stories don't matter.

Because, when we look at mainstream storytelling, heck if you go to Netflix, or HBO max, any of these platforms, the majority of the stories don't feature us.

And if they do, it's the Spanish language component.

But bro, me and you, we grew up here in the US, so we're, English is our first language, even if we're bilingual.

And there are also many LatinX who aren't even bilingual.

The the message is, we have stories to tell.

But we also have to find ways to tell our own stories that don't rely on other publishers, or other studios.

I think what you're doing is proof of that.

We have stories to share.

We have conversations that should be heard.

And you literally created the space for people to have that conversation, for us to talk.

We've known each other for years.

And to see the trajectory of your passion.

And then finally, we have to support it.

We have to watch our shows.

We have to read our stories.

We live in an era where we believe that, by simply liking a post, we're supporting.

No we're supporting when we literally tune in.

We're supporting when we literally purchase a book and read it.

That's how we actually show our support.

There's a lot of messages to share.

But I think the most important message is that we have to listen to our own voices and recognize that our stories are valid, have value, and they matter.

- Thank you.

Keep doing what you're doing, Edgardo.

I'm very proud of you.

- Thank you, Carlos.

Thank you so much, man.

- Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap.

Another great episode of Que Pasa, featuring unique and diverse storytellers and role models.

Don't forget to ask yourself the question, que pasa?

- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of Que Pasa NJ, with Carlos Medina, has been provided by: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative 825, ROI-NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health, Peapack-Gladstone Bank.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.

(salsa music)